When Offense met Defense

The number one ‘scoring offense’ Offense and the number one ‘scoring defense’ Defense are meeting up for what will be an amazing game.

Some say it will be a wipeout, but the question is in which way? Some say that it will be Seahawks all the way, some say the Packers will win the day! I will stop rhyming now…

So let’s look at some high points and low points, I think to start we will look low and only get higher.

1. Aaron Rodgers’ injury – There has been a lot of speculation about this, whether it will affect him, how much it will if it does, against the Cowboys he may have changed his play-style a bit to help him protect it but that does not mean he is broken completely. There are even some people who aresuggesting that the injury is not real, however I think that Kam Chancellor of the Seattle Seahawks said it best in the article.

Rodgers himself has said that his injury is ‘no better but no worse’ and a lot of Packers fans have asked the question: Is a healthy Flynn better than an injured Rodgers? Are we hurting Rodgers more by playing him and possibly aggravating his injury further? The problem is there is no correct answer to that last question, I am sure a doctor would say no you need to rest it, get a cup of tea, feet up on the sofa and have a week off work. But when that person is a Sportsman how suitable is that situation? It all depends on how Rodgers feels himself and I do not think we will ever truly know. If it is a mild twinge when he bends it a certain way then ok play, but if he can’t walk around his own house without limping across the room then no maybe he shouldn’t play. Having said that, I would love him to play, I think that without him in the team our chances at beating Seattle fall significantly, sorry Matt Flynn!

2. Home field advantage – The Packers are off to the Hawks’ Nest, not only do they have to travel on a plane for 4 hours but they also have to contend with the ’12th Man’ when they get there. There is no doubt in my mind that this will be a struggle, although we have played there before and can prepare for the noise I worry it will still be one of those things when you don’t remember how bad it actually is.

Having a proud history of being noisier than a pack of nails in a blender in the middle of a MacDonald’s during the school holidays, the Packers will need to make sure that they can get clear and confident messages to each other so that their plays and communications are not threatened, especially when it is up against the Seattle Defense.

This is something that seems to occur in normal games, even against the Cowboys at home last week we saw far too many incomplete passes due to miscommunication or not being in the same playbook let alone on the same page. Yes, this happens in most games, but it shouldn’t really appear in teams of this calibre, or at the playoffs.

3. That Defense – Seattle have been well known for their defense for the past couple of years now, and as awesome as I think the Packers are, unfortunately I cannot say that we are just as good. We have our soft spots, especially against the run, and what do those pesky Seahawks love? Well, it’s only a nice run…a lot of them. Marshawn Lynch is one of those players who, although we respect his talent, we wish he would trip on his way into the stadium and be out for the game. He is a game changer. He has put up some pretty good stats this year, outshone only by the Seahawks defense.

Their Run Defense is one of the best in the league and considering how much weight we put on Eddie Lacy in the Cowboys game, this could be life-threatening to our offense. However, they really do love a good shotgun offensive play from their opposition, the Seahawks fierce pass rush allowed a 41.3 QBR — the third-best figure in the NFL.

Let’s take it high now, like the soaring Packers’ fans spirits after that Cowboys Game.

1. Eddie Lacy – Our personal bulldozer of a Running Back, he has become the first RB in team history to rush for over 1,000 rushing yards in a season and achieve over 10 or more touchdowns in his first two seasons. Something that frequently occurs to me though is not the power in his stats but the power in his legs. There have been numerous plays this season where I have seen a defense try and stop him but he just keeps pumping those legs and gets extra crucial yards, in one game I think I even saw about 3 defensive players hanging off of him to try and get him to the ground.

He will be going up against one of the best defenses in the league though so he needs to really get that run game working for him, if we can get a Run game going we stand a chance of getting some more points on the board and will not have to rely solely on Rodgers and the Passing game. The only person who can stop Lacy is Kam Chancellor, the last time these two met Lacy was hit so hard he got a concussion, I would definitely advise staying away from him, Lacy!

2. Jordy Nelson – Our wonderboy Wide Receiver. More often than not this season we have seen Nelson being double teamed in marking, this puts him out of the game a lot of the time as Rodgers cannot always wait for him to get free, however he has broken free a few times with excellent results.

He is the most targeted player on the team, and as long as he can get away from the person marking him then Aaron Rodgers should be able to throw some of those magic deep passes to Nelson and he can sprint away. People ask me if I play Fantasy Football, my response is always; ‘I would but I would just choose all of the Green Bay Packers in my team.’ Jordy Nelson is one of those players who may not have had a record breaking season but always need to have a close eye on him. Fun Fact: Jordy Nelson was the second name I learned of the Packers team (after Rodgers) and knew what his number was. If Jordy is playing then there will be at least one beautiful catch that will have us cheering at the TV.

3. Clay Matthews – The Bearded Rapunzel. I mean, do I really need to say more? Ok I will. Since his move to inside linebacker he seems to have improved his stats ten-fold. Now he may have been quiet in the Cowboys game but don’t let that put you off, he has an inate ability to get to that quarterback whether you want him to or not. He was able to sack Russell Wilson in week 1 when the two teams met and I have complete faith we will see at least one sack from him in the game on sunday. I mean.. come on, this video says it all!

In conclusion, yes I think the Packers will win, but I am not underestimating the Seahawks, they can be tricksy!

On a last note just a quick well done to Mason Crosby on becoming the Packers all-time leading scorer, it sounds mean but I guess you forget about how many points they rack up on their own whereas receivers share the points across them, even Aaron Rodgers has snagged a few this season.